Essex County Council has announced a multi-million funding boost to radically improve its road network.

The funding has been called Priority One. This reflects the importance of highways to its residents and businesses, the council said.

£25 million will go towards resurfacing key roads and repainting white lines. It will also see more drain cleaning, cutting back vegetation and repairing signs.

Priority One will focus on larger road resurfacing rather than individual potholes. These will continue to be repaired using existing funding.

The council said it has been able to fund this mid-year boost thanks to strong financial management.

The council announced £12 million earlier this year for highways. £8 million of this supports the Members’ Highways Initiative. This allows its councillors to prioritise issues in their wards for repairs.

£39 million was also set aside this year for the annual resurfacing programme.

PIC-ESSEX CC